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Monetizing the Mayor: 7 efforts to cash in on Rob Ford’s ridiculousness

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THE LITTLE BOOK OF ROB FORD: Published by House of Anansi in January 2011, the motivation for this collection of quotations seemed unclear, but the number of discounted copies around suggests few were drawn to the gag. Random House's new Hazlitt Originals ebook, The Gift of Ford, is now aiming for better virtual sales.

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LEFT-WING PINKO BUTTONS: Don Cherry's notorious characterization of the downtown dwellers who did not want to see a Ford victory -- delivered in council chambers to kick off the current term in December 2010 -- earned $15,000 in short order for Spacing magazine.

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Krista Ford, the mayor of Toronto's niece, caused trouble with a bad tweet.

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MARGARET ATWOOD'S $7,100 T-SHIRT: This gift given to the most famous person to feud with Ford was auctioned off on eBay to raise money for her new mobile app -- autographed by the author.

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THE BUTTER SCULPTURE: Nothing at this year's Canadian National Exhibition attracted as much attention as this work by Olenka Kleban -- which must have motivated some people to pay to visit the fair, if not eat some butter-drenched food there. Darren Calabrese/National Post

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'RECALL ROB FORD' THONG: What better way to express your wish to see the mayor removed from office? None of these were spotted at the recent inquiry over the mayor's potential conflict of interest.CafePress

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DISSENTING BUMPER STICKERS: Anyone with rudimentary graphic design skills can make money expressing how they feel about the mayor via websites like CafePress -- but the Ford family business Deco Labels & Tags will likely deliver it for less than $6.50CafePress

With another chapter of the Rob Ford saga seemingly written every week, in a mayoral term that is technically just halfway through, it would be a risk for any publisher to commit to a traditional read on his mayoralty before at least October 2014.

Random House Canada has now entered the market for shorter journalistic ebooks, however, and The Gift of Ford by Ivor Tossell seems the ideal candidate for a $2.99 price point. The company’s new digital division, Hazlitt, has banked on the idea that a regularly-updated website combined with the growing popularity of digital readers will help this new format flourish.

Tossell’s 73-page recap of recent history seems aimed at political enthusiasts who weren’t following the past two years of Toronto City Council via 140-character dispatches. The bigger challenge involves reaching the vast audience beyond the 6,000 or so estimated people who have followed the action via Twitter. Will they part with three bucks to read more about the mayor?

This is not the first attempt to try and monetize Ford’s notoriety, though. Some have been more successful than others — and most have been marketed to detractors rather than supporters.

But then, the thousands of members of Ford Nation who lined up last month in his mother’s backyard at the annual free “Ford Fest” may have balked at the idea of paying for their burger and beer.